About Sustainability Impact Assessments (SIAs)

SIAs analyse the potential economic, social, human rights and environmental impact of trade agreements being negotiated by the European Union (EU). They are based on a robust analysis of the changes that are likely to be caused by the trade agreement in the EU, the partner country and developing countries. Equally important, they include wide-ranging consultations of stakeholders in the EU and the partner country. SIAs are undertaken independently by external consultants commissioned by the European Commission. SIA findings and recommendations feed into the negotiations, helping negotiators to optimise the related policy choices.

About the EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement

Australia is among the fastest growing developed economies. In line with this, bilateral trade between the EU and Australia has risen steadily in recent years, reaching about €75bn in 2017 (goods and services). Against this background, the EU and Australia have agreed to negotiate an EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). On 22 May 2018, the Council of the European Union authorised the opening of negotiations, which started in June 2018 and are currently ongoing.

About the EU-Australia SIA

The SIA in support of the negotiations on a free trade agreement between the EU and Australia is implemented by BKP Economic Advisors, a German-based economic research and consulting firm, in cooperation with Trade Impact BV, Global Sustainable Solutions, Trinomics and Monash University. Work started in January 2019 and will continue over 10 months. The team will prepare two main reports, which will be published on this website in February/March 2019 (inception report), and September 2019 (final report), and will be discussed with stakeholders before being finalised.

The study is financed by the European Commission and executed by BKP Economic Advisors GmbH (BKP). Any views expressed on this website are those of BKP and do not represent an official view of the European Union.